To the Discussion Leader
Kristiana Gregory’s first contribution to the Royal Diaries series, Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile, met with praise from young readers and critics and was made into a half-hour film that is on the HBO Family Channel. Gregory’s latest book, Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine, allows 21st century readers to travel back to the Middle Ages to a time of jousting matches, bloody battles, religious pilgrimages, planned marriages, and royal intrigue behind the castle doors.
Gregory’s love for writing historical fiction and doing the necessary research this genre requires shines through in Eleanor’s diary. Kristiana Gregory says it this way, “It was a lot of fun imagining a fourteen-year-old girl living during the Middle Ages. I love teenagers and I love medieval history. Of course it was a great help traveling to France with a group of American high school students, then touring the Aquitaine country with them. I’m convinced many of the concerns and interests kids have today are similar to those of eight centuries ago: friendship, parental love, curiosity about their future, yearnings for adventure and, of course, cool clothes.”
Summary
"I am grateful for this little diary. Grandmère gave it to me so I could describe the longing of my heart," writes thirteen-year-old Eleanor, elder daughter of the Duke William X of Aquitaine. It is 1136, and Eleanor lives in a large castle in southern France, surrounded by servants, ladies-in-waiting, and knights ready to gallantly defend her honor. Since the deaths of her mother and little brother six years earlier, Eleanor's closest friend is her younger sister Petronilla (Petra). When they are not studying or doing embroidery, the girls like to escape to their favorite rock and watch the clouds or talk about "sister things." Eleanor and Petra wear beautiful gowns and jeweled slippers, enjoy sumptuous banquets, and are entertained by acrobats, jesters, and troubadours who compose ballads just for them. But life in the castle is not all elegance: it is damp and cold in winter, and summer brings flies and the stench from the garderobe (medieval toilet). Babies die in infancy, and people are plagued by lice, fleas, and maw worms that eat away at their insides!
Eleanor worries about her father because he is continually making bad decisions. First, he became involved in a religious conflict angering the Pope, who has excommunicated him. Now, a young count invites him to wage war on the territory of Normandy, and he eagerly agrees.
When Father returns from the war, however, he seems to have changed. As Eleanor writes, "The father who slid off his horse in the courtyard was not the same man we'd seen on our last evening together. His cheeks were sunken; the beard he'd grown over the past weeks was matted with mud. He held out his arms to us but said nothing, only a heavy sigh escaped from his lips." Saddened by the death and destruction he'd seen, Father vows never again to go to war. Instead, he plans a pilgrimage to Spain to the tomb of St. James the Greater. He "wants to be healed of his grieving heart and commit his life to serving God."
A great entourage accompanies Duke William to Bordeaux, where Eleanor and Petra bid their father a tearful farewell. He consoles them, saying, "Watch for me in a few months. I will come back through these trees singing with joy." But as the weeks pass, Eleanor becomes worried, fearing something has happened to Father. Her fears are confirmed when word comes that her father has died immediately after reaching his goal.
Eleanor is now Duchess of Aquitaine and has inherited great wealth. It is, therefore, imperative she marries as soon as possible. A match is made with Louis the Younger, son of the King of France. Elaborate preparations are made for the wedding, and Louis travels from Paris to meet his bride. When Eleanor expresses apprehension about marrying someone she doesn't know, Grandmère tells her, "Someday you may love each other. First, you become friends." Eleanor and Louis are wed amid great pageantry, and prepare to travel to Paris. On their way, the young couple learns that Louis' father has died. Louis, at sixteen, is now king of France, and fifteen-year-old Eleanor is queen. A new life awaits her. She ends her diary writing, "I will go comfort [Louis], for I remember well the loss of my own father. Then I will give thought to Paris. I am queen, and as queen there is much to be done."
Thinking About the Book
1. Eleanor writes that her best friend is her sister Petronilla. Would you want to be Eleanor’s friend? What are her best qualities? What are her worst?
2. What role does Grandmère play in the lives of Eleanor and Petronilla?
3. Eleanor had a younger brother, Willie. What happened to Willie?
4. How does Eleanor’s father change from the kind of person he was at the beginning of the book until just before his death?
5. Define each of the following terms. Why is each term important in Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine?
ducal progress Holy Grail chain mail vassals excommunicated
5. Describe what health and sanitation conditions were like during Eleanor’s time of the Middle Ages.
6. Eleanor’s father was all set to marry Emma of Cognac, and Eleanor would have a new mother. Why did the marriage never occur?
7. What is a pilgrimage? Why does Eleanor’s father feel he must go on one?
8. How did Eleanor’s father die?
9. Explain how Eleanor actually met her future husband, Prince Louis, for the first time.
10. What events occur that suddenly make fifteen-year-old Eleanor the Queen of France?
Student Activities
1. If you could ask Kristiana Gregory, the author of Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine, one question about this book, what would that question be? Visit Gregory’s website and ask her your question.
http://www.kgregorybooks.com/
2. The story of “Saint George and the Dragon” is mentioned several times in Eleanor’s diary. Read a version of this story. Why do you suppose this was a holiday in Eleanor’s time and celebrated as the feast of Saint George?
3. Eleanor and her family celebrated Christmas with the burning of a Yule log. Find out more about this tradition at the website below. http://www.culture.fr/culture/noel/angl/buche.htm
What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?
4. Eleanor's pet bird Sno-jer is a gyrfalcon. To find out more about a gyrfalcon, go to http://www.ronausting.com/gyrfalco.htm. What information did you learn? Why would a gyrfalcon be an appropriate bird for a princess?
5. By the end of Eleanor’s diary readers know her marriage to King Louis was not a happy one. Ask each member of your discussion group to come up with one way in which Eleanor and Louis were very different people. Compare your list with those from other discussion groups.
6. Kristiana Gregory’s first Royal Diary told the story of Cleopatra VII. Although Egypt of 57 B.C. is very different from 1136 France, Gregory says she thinks these two royals shared commonalities and would have been friends. Read Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile. Do you think Eleanor and Cleopatra were alike? Would they have been friends? Explain your answers.
7. Some of the foods served in the twelfth century are still popular today such as coq au vin and beef bourguignon. A favored sweet during this time was gingerbread, but not the gingerbread we know today. Go to the website below and read the recipe from long ago then see the modern translation. Try making and sharing this dessert called gyngerbrede.
http://www.godecookery.com/goderec/grec42.htm
An Interview with Kristiana Gregory
Richard F. Abrahamson, Ph.D. & Eleanore S. Tyson, Ed.D.: Of all the women rulers you could have chosen to write about, you chose Eleanor of Aquitaine. What fascinated you most about her?
Kristiana Gregory: Scholastic asked me to write about Eleanor. When I started researching the Middle Ages I became enthralled by the daily lifestyle and restrictions women faced. It still amazes me that Eleanor had so many children who lived to adulthood and she herself lived eight decades.
RFA & EST: Would you tell us how your trips to France shaped the writing of Eleanor’s diary?
KG: It was great to see the Aquitaine countryside and visit medieval castles. I was there in the spring, summer and winter [different trips], which helped me to imagine what life, may have been like in those stone palaces--usually cold and damp!
RFA & EST: Any reader of Eleanor’s diary has to be struck with the stories of vomiting up parasites, worms in the eyes, and fleas and lice in the hair of even the royal family members. What did you discover about living conditions in the Middle Ages that surprised you most?
KG: Medical conditions were brutal, although I'd heard similar stories from friends who've traveled in third world countries, particularly about the worms. I was distressed to learn about man's cruelty to man. In Carcassonne, France, there was an opportunity to tour a "museum of torture." My friend and I couldn't bring ourselves to go inside, not even for the sake of research. I was curious, yes, but knew I didn't ever want to write about this topic.
RFA & EST: Count William de Poitiers, Eleanor’s father, seems to change abruptly from a warrior with a bad temper to a peace-loving pilgrim searching for salvation. In actuality, was his change so sudden and was it real?
KG: The Catholic priest who helped me understand Christianity of the Middle Ages felt certain that the Duke's transformation was genuine. For a man of his stature and wealth to give up everything to go on a pilgrimage, would have been a profound sacrifice. It is more likely than not that the Duke was motivated by an authentically changed heart. Thus, I believe his conversion--as I wrote it--was entirely possible. A Christian myself, I've experienced miraculous changes in my own heart that can only be explained by the supernatural power of Holy Spirit.
RFA & EST: In Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine, it appears that she and her new husband, Louis, might become friends and eventually fall in love, but that never happens. Why?
KG: She was spoiled and headstrong, wanting the romantic ideal of a heroic husband. But he wasn't a macho guy. He preferred reading, praying and fasting. Their marriage was political--and to think they were young teenagers at the time!
RFA & EST: What was the happiest part of Eleanor’s life?
KG: I imagine it was her pampered, carefree childhood.
RFA & EST: Your first Royal Diary told the story of Cleopatra VII. Although Egypt of 57 B.C. is very different from 1136 France, did these two women share any commonalities? Would they have liked each other?
KG: Oh, I think they would have become fast friends, but then I'm an optimist. They were intelligent, attractive and good communicators--they knew how to get what they wanted. Plus they were rich and loved beautiful clothes!
RFA & EST: What is one question you would like to ask your readers after they have finished reading Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine?
KG: If you could be a Queen or King, what sorts of things would you do to make life better for those around you?
RFA & EST: What is one thing you hope young readers will take with them after reading Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine?
KG: I hope they'll be encouraged to learn more history and to keep reading.
Discussion Guide written by Richard F. Abrahamson, Ph.D., Professor of Literature for Children and Young Adults, University of Houston, Houston, Texas and Eleanor S. Tyson, Clinical Associate Professor, University of Houston, Department of Curriculum & Instruction, Houston, Texas.
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